Meth arrests: 90 pounds of ammonia, 700 coffee filters found

Thursday

Mar 14, 2013 at 6:04 PMMar 14, 2013 at 6:08 PM

When Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies went to a mobile home on Becks Lane in Claxton to serve outstanding warrants, they not only found who they were looking for, but also found a clandestine methamphetamine lab.

by Beverly Majors

When Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies went to a mobile home on Becks Lane in Claxton to serve outstanding warrants, they not only found who they were looking for, but also found a clandestine methamphetamine lab.

When the lab was found, according to reports, deputies contacted the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force and a hazardous materials team because of the amount of anhydrous ammonia present — 90 pounds.

Reports said deputies noticed an odor of ammonia in several areas around the mobile home and saw several propane tanks and an oxygen tank. Also found were gallons of Muriatic acid and Coleman fuel, as well as 700 coffee filters, a blender, plastic containers, aluminum foil strips, plastic tubing, drain cleaner, hoses and fittings, and other products used to make meth.

Deputies arrested the homeowners, 42-year-old Elmer Carl Murphy and 48-year-old Kimberly Kay Murphy, as well as 54-year-old David Charles Estes, listed as homeless, Powell, for initiation of the meth manufacture process and criminal conspiracy. Elmer Carl Murphy was also charged with manufacture/deliver/sale/possess of a controlled substance, after deputies reportedly found three bags of meth in his pocket. He told deputies he had purchased the meth the night before.

Estes was additionally charged with tampering with evidence and Kimberly Murphy was served with a warrant for violation of probation.

Reports said Investigator Jason Leach, who is a certified methamphetamine lab technician, and Deputy Johnathan Acker first saw Elmer Murphy and Estes near a shed at the back of the property. Estes was reportedly inside the shed holding pliers with a “tightly twisted piece of aluminum,” which is commonly used in the manufacturing of meth.

When Leach went to the shed to talk to Estes, he noticed the smell of anhydrous ammonia and took Estes out of the shed, reports said.

Kimberly Murphy came to the home in a car with another woman about the time the deputies were escorting the two men away from the shed, reports said. However, she “quickly left the scene.”

Cpl. Wally Braden stopped the car and brought her back to the mobile home, reports said.

Reports said once the three people were in custody, deputies began searching the property, starting in the shed where they found pieces of a white substance scattered across a work bench. The substance tested positive for meth, reports said. The deputies also found rubber gloves, plastic containers, wrenches and an air hose nozzle with a bluish/green corrosion, which is consistent with what happens when anhydrous ammonia comes in contact with brass.

Near the shed in a storage box, deputies found the Muriatic acid and nearby found the oxygen tank and a cooler. They found a suit case containing a “stored meth lab” and a plastic container with other meth-making products under a motor home in the driveway.

Inside a Buick in the driveway, deputies found a propane tank in the back area with an unattended toddler, reports said. The toddler was later picked up by the mother and the Department of Children’s Services was notified about the incident.

Deputies seized a black powder rifle from a storage room in the house and digital scales with an off-white substance on the scale, reports said.

Deputies were at the scene for about nine hours while hazardous materials teams cleaned up the property and removed chemicals and products.

The Murphys reportedly told deputies they had paid another man to make meth at the home. Estes reportedly told deputies he had no involvement “in anything,” but was also at a prior meth lab where chemicals and weapons were seized but evaded arrest at that time.

Elmer reportedly said he and Estes had been in the shed and “were about to smoke meth” when the deputies arrived.

The Murphys and Estes are being held in the Anderson County jail, each on a $25,000 bond. They are to appear in General Sessions Court on Thursday.